Sébastien Foucan

Sébastien Foucan is an original member of Yamakasi, commonly credited as the founder of free running, after his infamous dispute with fellow Yamakasi member, and founder of parkour, David Belle. Their disagreement stemmed from the fact that Sébastien believed that you should be able to 'find your own way', saying that 'free running is the art of expressing yourself with no limitations', contrary to David's belief in the parkour philosophy 'to be and to last'.

Sébastien and his friends practiced what they called 'parkour' (referencing 'Parcours du combattant') in 1989. However, he soon started to find weaknesses, and started to follow his own quest, drawing inspiration from Bruce Lee. In 1993, he started naming the techniques he was practicing. In 1994-6, he suffered an injury whilst working for the fire service. This gave him realisation that one should respect thier body and environment. He was a member of Yamakasi from 1997-98, leaving after his dispute with Big Dave.
In 2001, he named his discipline free running, and with it creating his own concept his belief, 'follow your way', encouraging freedom of expression. In 2003, he took part in the groundbreaking documentries Jump Britain and Jump London, which gave free running extensive attention to the general public. In 2006, he was in the James Bond film, Casino Royale, which drew even more attention to free running.